Carr no longer starter, still major part of team

PITTSBURGH -- He was the second-team All-Hockey East goalie last season and runner-up for Hockey East Player of the Year.

He backstopped the largest one-season turnaround in Division 1 hockey history by a team under a first-year coach.

Yes, Doug Carr was regarded as one of the best college goalies in the country coming into this season.

River Hawk fans swept up in the Frozen Four hysteria over freshman sensation Connor Hellebuyck might forget how good a goalie Carr is, but his UMass Lowell teammates certainly do not. In Carr they also see the power of teammates pulling for each other -- and in the same direction. And if circumstances required coach Norm Bazin to turn to Carr here in Pittsburgh, in Carr they would still trust.

"To have a guy like that, I think that's why our team is so successful," said UMass Lowell senior captain Riley Wetmore. "It's a tough spot, being second-team All-Hockey East one year and not playing as much the next. But Doug's been great with (the situation). I can't say enough great things about Doug."

Carr is not playing because Hellebuyck, a fifth-round draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets last June, is playing practically perfect. He would right now put any other goalie in the country on the bench as well.

"Every TV timeout he comes over to talk to me," said Carr. "We'll just talk about different saves that he's made, what the other team is doing. We've been in a lot of one-goal games, so I tell him to go shut it down.

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And that's what he's done."

Carr (8-8-1, 2.79, .897 save percentage), a junior from Hanover, last played Feb. 3, a 4-3 overtime loss at Maine. Hellebuyck has started UMass Lowell's last 15 games, during which the River Hawks are 14-1-0 and have allowed only 18 goals, landing in the Frozen Four, where Thursday at 4:30 p.m. they will play Yale in a national semifinal.

The dream season has gone as Carr envisioned: The River Hawks winning Hockey East regular-season and playoff titles and reaching the Frozen Four.

"Obviously going into this year, I wanted to be in there in the end," said Carr. "But me and Connor have been great (to each other) all year. When I've played, he's been great. When he's played, I want to say I've been a good support system. We push each other to get better every day in practice."

UMass Lowell junior right wing Derek Arnold said the River Hawks felt comfortable starting the season with Carr, who last season went 22-10-1 with a 2.13 goals-against average, four shutouts and a .926 save percentage.

"Connor got hot and just ran with the ball," said Arnold. "We still believe in Doug. If he needs to go, we still believe in him just as much as we believe in Connor. Right now, Connor has been great for us. It's remarkable to see a freshman goaltender play at such a high level."

Hellebuyck is 20-2-0 with a 1.13 goals-against average, .959 save percentage and six shutouts. Hellebuyck was voted the outstanding player of both the Hockey East Tournament and the NCAA Northeast Regional -- after which Carr tweeted, "Punched our ticket to the frozen four!! Proud of the boys. Pittsburgh here we come."

"Doug is just happy that we're winning," said Wetmore. "He's such a team guy. And you probably can't say that about everyone (if they were in a similar situation). Doug has been so supportive of Connor. And obviously when you put up the numbers that Connor has been putting up, it's tough to complain and argue with."

Carr continues preparing as though he will play.

The possibility that he might is always there.

"I honestly feel better right now than I did at the midway point of the season," said Carr. "I'm at a much better spot than I was in January ... I was fighting the puck, and really hard on myself ... But I feel better. And it's not like I'm done. My career isn't over. I have plenty of hockey ahead of me."

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